


Stand By Me

by Malachite_Dorito



Category: Steven Universe (Cartoon)
Genre: Alternate Universe, F/F, Fluff, I actually don't even know what im doing, I'm Bad At Tagging, Out of Character, Slow Burn, Someone take my computer away, more tags later on, vintage lesbians
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-05-21
Updated: 2018-08-02
Packaged: 2019-05-09 15:14:04
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 6,762
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14718506
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Malachite_Dorito/pseuds/Malachite_Dorito
Summary: You want to see a dead body in the woods? I certainly don't, but the four kids walking by the train tracks do. Maybe it won't be so bad. A wild goose chase doesn't sound that tiring.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> So I'm back... Not with the same story though. We're just going to pretend this is my first story and that its good(Even though it really isn't). I don't exactly have an update schedule right now because finals are coming up and things might get hectic. Also, I was thinking about having past japis, but idk.

Lapis had her hands in her pockets walking up the mountain. She was going to the hideout she called her second home. She never liked her family. Her sister would bully her and her friends, and her parents didn’t give a damn if she lived or not. She had to get away soon or she’d go batshit crazy. Maybe she already was? She shook her head at the thought, she couldn’t think like that yet. Continuing walking up she had to admire the view. Peridot had picked out the spot for them to start building here. She had a good eye for things, even when she needed glasses. The grass was somehow always perfectly cut, and never looked brown. During the night it looked absolutely beautiful, the stars shining down with the moon. She always loved to be here during the night. But during the day she could see the whole town from where she was standing. Even though the town didn’t look big, it felt like it walking in it. People walking around doing their own thing. Cars zooming left and right. Kids running through alleys playing tag. These people and the town was all she knew. But everything seemed so redundant. Finally reaching the door she heard a loud bang. Peridot.

 

After finishing the secret knock she heard a come in from a different voice followed by another bang. It sounded almost like Pearl was screaming. She opened the door and what she saw was crazy. Peridot and Pearl trying to chase a small brown dog around the room. With further examination, it looked like a Yorkie maybe? Anyways the room was a mess. All of their belongings were either on the floor or knocked over. As Lapis stood there frozen with the door wide open, Peridot screamed at her.

 

“Close the door before it gets out! Are you going to help or just stand there?!”

 

I finally close the door and start helping. This thing must really be scared or it was just having fun. It was also so small, it was hard for us to squeeze through places, especially since there was now three of us in the small room. We would constantly bump into each other running around. Finally, Peridot caught the dog, it took us almost 5 minutes to catch him. Everyone was panting and sweating when they heard a knock at the door. It wasn’t the secret knock, who could it be?

 

“That’s not the secret knock,” Peridot yelled at the person at the door. They try to knock again, still not getting it right.

 

“Guys come on it’s me. Let me in, I have something to say.”

 

“Amethyst,” We all say in sync. I go to open the door and then immediately sit back down next to Peridot. The dog calmly sits in her lap as I try to pet it.

 

“Woah where’d you guys get that?” Amethyst asked, pointing to the moving furball.

 

“I don’t know man, I just got here,” Lapis said taking the dog from Peridot’s lap. It didn’t seem harmful. The dog was probably a stray, what luck. She had something in common with it already. Maybe it wouldn’t be so bad keeping it.

 

“I saw him in a box in an alley on the way here. I couldn’t just pass him up, so I brought him here.” Peridot said, looking back at Amethyst.

 

“You have a name for it yet?” Pearl asked, trying to clean up the place. It looked like a hurricane went through the room, technically it was a dog but still.

 

“No, I haven’t-” Peridot started.

 

“Pumpkin,” Lapis interrupted. Everyone stopped and stared at Lapis. She thought it was a good name. The dog was somewhat brown enough to be orange and small enough. Even though she didn’t find the dog first, she had to take initiative before they named it something stupid like Rex. “What? You don’t like the name?” She said.

 

“No, its fine, it just came out of nowhere...Pumpkin. We can work with that right guys?” Peridot asked.

 

“Well, it's not mine so I really don’t care.” Pearl shrugged, after picking up the last misplaced item and putting it back.

 

“I was thinking about naming it Spartan, well whatever.” Amethyst joked.

 

“Alright, it’s settled. What was that thing you wanted to say Amethyst?” Lapis said, giving the dog back to Peridot. She wondered where the dog would stay. Pearl’s parents were crazy, they’d probably kill it after a week. Amethyst was too lazy to keep a pet, it would probably run away again. My sister would definitely steal it, and Peridot’s mom would never allow in a stray, she was too strict.

 

“Oh yeah, guys you’d never believe it. I ran all the way from my house.” Amethyst spoke again, ripping her away from her thoughts.

 

“I ran all the way home ~doo wop doa ooo~ Just to say I'm sorry ~sorry ooo~.” Lapis, Peridot, and Pearl started to sing.

 

“Come on guys this isn’t funny. Fine, I won't tell you then.” Amethyst said with her hands up.

 

“Hold on guys, what is it Ame?” Lapis said as Peridot and Pearl stopped signing.

 

“Ok, you guys won’t believe it. I-”

 

“I ran all the way home.” They started again. But this time stopped as soon as they started.

 

“Screw you guys,” Amethyst whined, looking the other way.

 

“What is it Ame?” She asked again. Everyone sat down and continued to do what they were doing before.

 

“Can you sneak out tonight, maybe for a day or two?”

 

“I don’t know Amethyst, what is this for?” Lapis asked taking out a cigarette and lighting it. She tried passing it to Peridot but she declined, then passed it over to Pearl and she gladly accepted.

 

Amethyst scratched the back of her neck, she looked a little concerned before she asked. “You guys want to go see a dead body?”


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This is kinda just a filler, adds more about how amethyst found out. Two more characters come in too.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Um, so I'm disappointed in myself because it took so long to update this (I honestly haven't been doing anything), and because my first chapter was so small. I'm sorry it was so short, it was just a perfect place to end. But yeah I'm back baby, and I'm going to continue this no matter how long it takes. (Probably a year) Still thankful for those who keep reading. If anyone wants to comment suggestions or tell me if this is any good, that's greatly appreciated.
> 
> I'm going to work on the next chapter tomorrow, ill hopefully get it done sometime this week.

When I say everyone went silent, it was like the whole planet stopped. Even the dog looked up to see what had happened. But then went back to licking Peridot’s hand. Lapis looked at Peridot and she looked back. Pearl looked like she was staring daggers into Amethyst as if she was making a joke. Amethyst just continued.

“Yeah, you guys heard about that one kid who got lost in the woods?”

“Uh...that kid Onion?” Peridot said. Onion? Lapis had seen that kid almost a week ago. He couldn’t be the one missing. Although he had been missing school a lot lately and his parent’s had been asking for him. She thought it was the sort of thing he did often. Lapis could be friends with him, he was just a bit weird.

“Yeah him, I heard my sister talking about him with some girl, Topaz under my house.” Everyone looked in confusion. Under the house? Why of all places was she under the house.

“Look guys, it’s a long story but you won’t regret it.”

-OoO-

Amethyst’s mom had told her to go get the new cat from under the house. Her mom had just bought it, and as soon as she put it down it ran out of the house. Apparently, it just wanted to roam around, somehow getting itself stuck under the house. She had been told its name was Cat Steven. Don’t ask, another long story.

She had crawled under the house and called out for the cat but got no response. She crawled a little more and could hear a little meow. Finally crawling to the middle of the house, getting all dirty I might add, she saw a mixed cat playing with a small mouse. Grabbing the pet, she heard footsteps of a familiar person. Skinny Jasper. And someone else, way heavier.

“Come on Skinny, we gotta do something.” The unknown figure said. She was tall and big, almost a little muscular. Her hair was blonde and she had two holes in her ears.

“Why should we, it's got nothin’ to do with us,” Skinny said, lighting a cigarette.

“We know its that one kid, Onion. We can’t just leave him by the River.” She said following skinny to the other side of the house. Amethyst also crawled over to hear better, Cat Steven in hand.

“Look he’s dead, we can’t help him now Topaz.” Skinny was now walking off the porch, walking straight for the car with Topaz in tow. 

“Maybe we could call the cops or even an anonymous call?” She begged again. It surely wasn’t right for that kid to rot in the woods while they could’ve done something.

“The final answer is no, and don’t tell anyone. Not even Jasper you hear.” Skinny had stopped to look Topaz in the eyes, grabbing her shoulders firmly. Topaz shook her head and they continued walking. Amethyst had sat there dumbfounded with a small cat scratching for her to let go. She had to tell this to the gang.

-OoO-

“I know exactly where they were talking about. Lake Huron is the only Lake for miles.” Pearl took a seat next to Peridot. She had no interest in the dog but it didn’t hurt to let it sniff her.

“How could he have walked all the way there though. That seems like a very long hike.” Peridot said looking at Lapis. Lapis just shrugged.

“If he followed the small stream there. He could have found it easily.”

“Yeah, then when night fell he didn’t have shelter. Something probably attacked him.” Pearl intervened.

Everyone frowned. Just thinking about it made their stomachs turn. Having to go see it wouldn’t make it any better. But they couldn’t just leave his poor body down by the river, they had to do something. Lapis had finally said what they were all thinking but were too scared to commit.

“We should go find him, just the four of us.”

“We’ll be in the paper. We’ll be heroes!” Pearl screams excitedly, she loved to be the center of attention. This would be perfect for her….them she meant.

“I don’t know, what would we tell our parents?” Amethyst asked.

“We’ll tell our parents we’re staying the night at your house, and you’ll tell your parents you’ll be at Pearl’s. Then we’ll tell ‘em we’re going to see a drag race. We’re cool until tomorrow night.”

“But if we do find that kid’s body, our parents will know we didn’t go to the drag races, will be grounded.”

“They’ll be so ecstatic we found them, they won’t care.” Pearl put a hand on Amethyst’s shoulder. That usually calms her down. Not trying to point anything out or whatever, but Amethyst may have a thing for Pearl. Probably not though, probably just jumping to conclusions.

“My dad will definitely care, give me some stupid punishment. But it’s worth it.” Lapis said standing up in excitement. She was rarely excited about things. Maybe it's because she’d be alone with her best friends for the weekend, she also had nothing better to do. Maybe it was just excitement for one particular person. Peridot. Nope, it was definitely for everyone.

“Alright let's do it, what do you say?” Lapis looks to Pearl.

“Of course.” Lapis and Pearl both look to Peridot.

“Sure.”

“What about you Amethyst.” Lapis, Pearl, and Peridot look at Amethyst.

She doesn’t budge.

“Ame.” Lapis and Pearl both grab at the mute girl. Pearl doesn’t do much but slap around her arms and grab her cheek. Lapis moves around Amethyst to give her a noogie. She finally had to resist when Lapis dared to give her a wet willy.

“Ok fine jeez.” Amethyst moves Lapis and Pearl away, they both sit back down.

“Yeah, Alright.” Lapis jumps up and down fists in the air.

“Super cool, super cool.” Pearl does the same.

Amethyst smiles. Everyone but Peridot was happy or at least showing it. Of course her parents wouldn’t care, she had basically become invisible to them.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You know, I realized the four of them could've told the police about the body. But where would the fun be in that? (BTW a drag race is a car race between two cars going in a straight line, the one to cross the finish line is obviously the winner. It's not really famous anymore, but you can still look up videos if you're curious.)
> 
> Just barely made it to 1,005 words. I was tired and the screen was too bright for me to continue. But I absolutely had to update this, I had probably been working on this for a couple hours straight or something (I had to do some research about the movie)... Good thing its the summer. I'll try to flesh it out a bit more, like add more detail and stuff. I feel like its kinda dry. I also want to work on getting it a bit longer. (That's what he said...)


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Meeting Peridot's family
> 
> Here is your trigger warning for homophobia.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I added past Japis for more conflict and hopefully a better story. And no, I didn't forget about Pumpkin, he's going to be back in the next chapter. But like I said last chapter, I'd make my chapters longer, I did. I'm going to try to write them even longer though, maybe like 5,000 words, I'm halfway there.

Back home, everything wasn’t so great. Things could go better but life isn’t fair, she just had to accept things and wish for the best. Now Peridot wasn’t so optimistic, but today she had to try.

Everyone had gone home to pack and plan out everything. Peridot practically ran home because she was so excited, probably the most she’d ever been excited since… Well since her sister had died. Her mother absolutely adored Pearl, almost more than she cared to admit. Same goes for their father, who took off when she died. He couldn’t bare to see his beloved daughter go down into her grave. And he couldn’t stick around because he had said the memories hurt him too much. Peridot didn’t exactly care for her dad, so when he left she was almost happy. I know it sounds a little weird but it’s true. Even when Pearl was still around, he still acted like a major ass and didn’t give her any attention. But the last couple of days he was there, were the worst. Peridot didn’t even tell Lapis because she’d thought she'd freak or something. She intended to tell her sooner or later, but not now. Speaking of Lapis had reminded herself of what she was doing. 

Peridot quickly ran upstairs so she could start packing. She grabbed her canvas knapsack in the corner of her room and set it on her bed, she then started filling it with the bare essentials. Bedroll, canteen, binoculars, and a little money. Though she couldn’t find her binoculars anywhere in her room. She could ask her mom. There was a 50% - 50% chance of her mom actually answering, the other half would get her a cold glare and some insults. It was worth a shot though. Peridot left her room and jogged down the stairs to find her mother fiddling with the radio. Her mother was wearing what seemed to be a yellow dress with yellow high heels and some diamond earrings. Walking up to her she already seemed annoyed.

“What.” She sighed, not looking up from the radio.

“Where're my binoculars?”

“In your sister’s room.” 

Well, that went better than expected. It shocked Peridot, almost enough for her to show it. Peridot did try not to piss her off just now, she couldn’t believe it worked. She started going back up the stairs when she heard something come from her mom.

“It’s your fault.”

Peridot stopped dead in her tracks. Did she say it was her fault? She was pissed, why did she say things like this. She was her own mother for crying out loud. Sometimes she really believed her though. She believed she was the one who made Dad left, but not today. Now her good mood was ruined. She silently stomped up the stairs, trying not to upset her mother again. Making sure her mother wasn’t in earshot she whispered out ‘clod.’ Walking to her sister door she took a deep breath, looking back at old memories wasn’t the best for her. But she had to face it someday.

Opening the door a wave of dust hit her, the room hadn’t been opened for a while and everything was dusty. Walking in, she and admired all her pictures on the walls, pictures of her and Peridot, her winning awards, and even pictures of her with her friends. Finally, she walked to the closet and grabbed her binoculars. Then she remembered something special about her sister's desk. She opened the lowest drawer and sifted through her papers to find a wooden box. She opened that box and revealed a necklace with a tiny gem on it, a Peridot. Taking that necklace in her hand reminded her of how her sister had given it to her.

~F~

Yellow Pearl had pulled a wooden box out of her drawer and sat back on the with Peridot.

“I got this for you today.” She said, opening up the box. It was a plain looking square box, nothing fancy. Maybe made out of Oakwood and painted with dark brown paint. The inside had a small red velvet pillow and on top of it was silver necklace with green gems.

“Really?” Peridot’s eyes were wide, almost looked like they had stars in them.

“Yeah, here take it.”

“What is this green thing?” Peridot asked, examining the green gem.  
“It’s a Peridot, believe it or not,” Pearl smirked. 

“Wow thanks.” Pearl had already start positioning herself behind Peridot so she could put it on her. But Peridot had to stop her.

“I was thinking about just keeping it in the box for safekeeping, I don’t want it to get ruined or anything.”

“Oh, that’s fine too….I just thought you’d look cute in it.” Now Peridot was a blushing mess. While Peridot was trying to hide, Pearl had put the necklace back in the box and set it next to Peridot.

“I’m not cute…” Peridot said hiding her red tomato cheeks with her pale hands.

“Oh yes you are.” Pearl had latched onto Peridot and started giving her a noogie, messing up her wild hair. But she really didn’t care, because she was happy right where she was.

“You found it…” A voice interrupted

~F~

“Huh?”

“You found it.” Peridot’s mother was now upstairs with her, giving her that cold dead stare again. She was blocking the doorway with her towering figure.

“Y-Yeah…” Peridot scrambled off the dusty bed and hurried out the door. While she was walking out, she put the box back on the desk but kept the necklace and stowed it away in her pocket. She walked out of the room and her mother closed the door behind her.

“Why can’t you have friends like Pearls?”

“They're alright.”

“A thief and two fags. Yeah right.”

“Lapis isn’t a thief, and stop with that alright.”

“Whatever, if I ever find out you're like that too… You are no longer my daughter.”

Peridot was speechless, she almost cried right then and there, but she held back the tears. She couldn’t let her mother know she had won. Storming out of the house with her bag, she hoped she’d find Lapis soon.

-OoO-

Walking into the town she found Lapis waiting outside a diner. She couldn’t mistake her blue hair for anyone else. She had on the same outfit from before. Her blue and white baseball tee and denim jeans with her black high top converse. The only thing different was the bedroll hanging from a string around her neck. Peridot hadn’t changed either, it wouldn’t make sense to anyways. Peridot had on denim jeans, a green striped shirt, and high top converse. She also decided to put on the necklace her sister gave her.

“Hey Peri, what's the long face for?” Lapis approached Peridot, wrapping an arm around Peridot’s shoulders. While in close proximity of Peridot, she noticed something shiny on her neck. She’d have to ask about it later.

“I’m fine.” Lapis didn’t believe her, but she had something to make her feel better.

“Alright follow me.”

“What-” Before Peridot could say anything else Lapis grabbed onto her hand and was practically dragging her to the back of the diner. When they stopped Lapis let go of her hand, Peridot was a little sad about it. But she got a weird warm feeling in her gut, they were in the back of an alley. Especially since Lapis leaned in a little closer. Her heart almost stopped and her cheeks wore a pink tint.

“What did you want to show me Lazuli?” Lapis was now looking around to see if the coast was clear. She then proceeded to pull out a black handgun from her bedroll and handed it to Peridot.

“Oh my stars lazuli, where’d you get this?” Peridot’s eyes went wide. She’d never seen a gun before, let alone hold on. Only seeing them in action movies with spies and bad guys who were trained to use them. She wasn’t.

“My dad, he won’t notice. He’s always drunk off his ass, he doesn't even notice me.” That last part sounded sad, she didn’t know what to say. Instead started making gun noises with it, pretending like she was shooting something. Lapis gave her a little smile.

“Is it loaded?”

“No, what kind of idiot do you think I am.”

Well since it wasn’t loaded she thought it was okay to pull the trigger. She made a grave mistake pulling it. Apparently, it was loaded, a long bang emitted from the gun and the trashcan in front of them had a hole in it. Lapis was a huge idiot.  
“Jesus!” They both said in harmony and started running from the alley. Peridot still had the gun in hand but ran faster than her life depended on it. Lapis on the other hand, was dying laughing, she also knocked over some trash cans and was yelling. “Peridot Lucchese did it, Peridot Lucchese!” Nobody really heard her, but as soon as they were out of sight, someone came out the back door and started to investigate. Peridot would have to chew out Lapis about shouting her name out.

Peridot gave Lapis the gun back before returning back into town, she didn’t need any eyes on them right now. Lapis was still laughing and holding her stomach. She almost turned blue from the lack of air she was getting.

“You knew it was loaded you... clod!” Peridot pushed Lapis, she was angry. How could Lapis do that? They could’ve gotten in real trouble, like with police and stuff.

“What no, I really didn’t know.”

“I’m going to get in trouble because of you, worst trick EVER!”

“Hey really, I didn’t know it was loaded.” Lapis stopped and grabbed onto the smaller girls shoulders. Ocean blue eyes locked onto emerald green ones. She was serious, she really didn't know. She had taken out the bullets from the magazine but had forgotten to take out the one in the barrel.

“You swear?”

“I swear.”

“Pinky promise?” I know what your thinking, really a pinky promise? Pinky promises are sacred to them, you can never break them. If you do, you’ll ruin whatever friendship you have with this person. Lapis definitely didn’t want to ruin their relati-... friendship, she loved the dork.

Lapis crossed her heart and held up her pinky. “Pinky promise.”

And with that, Peridot lightly slapped he back of Lapis’ head. Lapis responded by lightly smacking Peridot’s arm and they left. But as soon as the bad blood had gone away, something else had to happen. Jasper and Aquamarine stepped out of the shop in front of them. Lapis and Peridot tried to walk past them but couldn’t. Jasper got a glimpse of something shiny on Peridot’s neck and reached out to grab it. Instead of looking at it though, she ripped it off Peridot’s neck and held her back. Her heart sank when she saw it in Jasper’s enormous hands.

“Hey give that back.” Peridot squirmed.

“Why should I?” 

“My sister gave it to me!” Peridot squirmed close enough to hit Jasper in the stomach. Which didn’t affect Jasper in the slightest. “Cut it out,” Jasper said.

“Your such a dick Jasper.” Lapis glared straight at Jasper. Jasper looked almost shocked she had talked back to her. She gave the necklace to Aquamarine and she gladly put it in her pocket. The buff girl then stopped messing with Peridot and turned her attention to Lapis. Her hazel eyes almost burning into her. “And your such an asshole,” she whispered.

“Lapis, I know you didn’t mean to say that to my friend here. Why don’t you apologize.”

“Yeah. Apologize.”

Lapis didn’t move or speak, she just stared into Jasper’s eyes. Jasper took that as a sign to start her plan. So she grabbed Lapis’ neck and pushed her onto the wall. She didn't apply pressure she just held her there. “Apologize Lapis.” Lapis’ sister Aquamarine didn’t step in, she just smiled. Seeing Lapis like that probably made her feel like she had power. Peridot on the other hand, couldn't take it. She started hitting and screaming at Jasper. Lapis just stood there cursing at Jasper.

“Jasper stop, you're going to hurt her.”

“I intend to.” Jasper grabbed something out of her back pocket and pulled it out, it was a black switchblade. She opened it and pointed it straight at Lapis’ face. “I’m waiting,” Jasper said, slowly moving her hand closer to her face.

“I take it back, I take it back.” She repeated. Lapis was sweating bullets, she might’ve peed her pants if Jasper moved her hand any closer. Lapis may have lost her pride but at what cost, her life? Jasper could have her pride. She didn’t want to die yet, not to mention she’s way too young. She wanted to be with Peridot for a long time… Not in a weird way jeez, maybe.

Jasper took her and off Lapis’ neck and put her switchblade back in her pocket. “See that wasn’t so hard.” The tanned girl patted Lapis and Peridot’s shoulders but kept her hand on Lapis’ a little longer. Jasper walked off, turning the corner.

“See you at home Lapis.” Aquamarine at Lapis and left to follow Jasper. Little did Aquamarine know, Lapis wasn’t going to be home. The blue haired girl turned to leave when she saw Peridot staring at the empty spots where Jasper and Aquamarine stood. She could barely make out a tear that was falling from the smaller girls face. She pitied Peridot, she heard her say that necklace was from her sister. Peridot loved her sister more than anything, and she had just lost her gift. But what could they do, it’s not like Lapis could really do anything. And let's be real, she couldn’t shoot Jasper and save the day. Although it would make her life 10 times better. Seeing Peridot sad like that also made her sad, she mentally vowed to herself that she’d get it back. Maybe even buy her another, it’s not the original but it's the best she could do. Frowning, she grabbed Peridot and started walking again. Maybe a playful punch will get her in the mood. And that’s exactly what she did, punched Peridot in the arm and smiled at her. Peridot was a little confused at first but played along after she knew what was happening. She then punched the girl beside her harder. It made her feel a little better, but she was still crying inside. She would just have to face the fact that it was gone, she still hated that behemoth. Lapis pulled her out of her thought’s when she felt an arm around her shoulders. The blonde looked up at Lapis, who was looking in front of them. But she caught Peridot staring at her and gave her a big smile. Peridot felt like they were to close and blushed. But she thought about it, and honestly, she didn’t mind. Lapis and Peridot continued walking down the street to find Amethyst and Pearl.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I made Peridot and Yellow Pearl have their dad's last names, Lucchese. (Lu - cche - se, Italian origin)  
> Thank you for reading this story so far, I hope you enjoy it. Thanks for 200 hits and the kudos.


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Preparation for adventure i guess

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> OOF, im super sorry for not updating. I was in Mexico and I couldn't bring my desktop for obvious reasons, and my Laptop battery broke. Then when I came back, I found out I have to switch schools. Super lame but yup, here's your chapter. Also garnet... I have no idea if she has a second appearance.

Lapis and Peridot hadn't walked far, everyone had made plans to go back to the clubhouse before they left. The two had let go of each other before they got there though, they didn’t want Amethyst and Pearl to get suspicious or make fun of them. Peridot stepped up to the door and knocked on the door, and a voice let them passed. Upon walking in they saw Pearl sitting with the dog, of course, she'd be the first one here. She’s never late.

“Hey what happened to you two?” Pearl asked.

“Nothin’. We let off some cherry bombs and in the process, got dirty…” Lapis could feel Peridot’s confused gaze staring at her but choose to keep staring at Pearl.

“Jeez, I can’t leave you two for 5 minutes can I?”

“Nope, guess you can’t. ” Lapis moved to sit down in her usual seat.

The bluenette didn’t want to tell Pearl what had happened. She’d go bonkers, literally. Peridot had picked up on it too and hadn’t told Pearl anything about their encounter. Pearl is like the mother of the group, but sometimes she can go off the rails if she wants too. She also thought it would be good for the morale, she could already hear Pearl squawking away about how it wasn’t safe to go anywhere with their little confrontation with Jasper. She turned to see Peridot still standing in her spot looking at empty space. As Lapis stood up to go help Peridot, she heard a bang at the door. The secret combination was correct, who was it? Lapis gave them the go ahead, and luckily it was Amethyst. Everyone sighed and said their hello’s. Amethyst had her same clothes on and a bedroll connected to a string just like Lapis. As everyone thought it was a good time to leave, Peridot came to a realization that they were missing something.

“Did anyone bring food?” Peridot stopped in her tracks, which stopped Lapis because she was behind her.

Lapis, Amethyst, and Pearl didn’t have bags like Peridot so they thought she’d bring something.

“Shit…”

“Lapis this was your plan. You didn’t think to bring anything?” Pearl yelled smacking Lapis on the back of the head, causing Peridot to giggle beside her.

“Alright everyone calm down, how much money do you have on you?” She rubbed the back of her head and sat back down, making everyone follow her lead. After sitting they went through their pockets. Peridot pulled out a dollar and twenty-eight cents, Pearl pulled out seventy-three cents, and Lapis pulled out eighty-five cents. When it finally came to collecting Amethyst’s money she halted, then finally opened her hand. Inside was a crumpled gum wrapper, lint, and twenty-five cents. Everyone looked at her but didn’t comment. Lapis gave the change to Peridot and she counted it up, getting rid of the garbage.

“$3.11.” She handed the money back to Lapis and she put it in her pocket. Lapis thought about what they could get, probably nothing that would fill them up.

“Maybe there’s some money in here?” Amethyst asked.

“Well get up and help look, that is if you want to eat tonight.” Pearl elbowed Amethyst’s stomach, which growled back. Amethyst was known for eating, if she wanted, she could easily win a hot dog eating contest. So she quickly jumped up and joined pearl in the search for money.

Lapis on the other hand, let the dog smell the money she had in her pocket so it could look for her. Hopefully, this dog was good for smelling things, because she really didn’t want to help. After it smelled her hand it left her side and joined the hunt. This didn’t go unnoticed by Peridot, however.

“Really Lazuli, using the dog as a butler now.” It wasn’t a question, it was just playful banter. So Lapis picked up on it.

“No waaayy, look I’m helping.” She said as she lifted up a random object with her index finger.

“Come on, use those big muscles and help out.” Peridot moved closer and playfully punched Lapis on the arm, causing Lapis’ face to blush a light pink. Smirking she pretended to flex in multiple poses like a superhero in a comic book. And make lots of over exaggerated grunts and noises. Lapis and Peridot began to laugh so hard it made their sides hurt. As they were rolling on the floor laughing, Pearl and Amethyst turned and stared, they honestly didn’t want to break it up but they had a mission to accomplish and they couldn’t do that if they were still at the clubhouse.

“Stop flirting and help,” Pearl yelled from her spot, then continued to look through their items.

Amethyst chuckled at the statement and went back to looking too. Peridot and Lapis had stopped laughing and gotten up from their spot to look around. Flirting? Lapis had always thought they were just playing around, it would always end like that. Except this time, Lapis did blush. Maybe this was the first time she realized it, but it did happen. She didn’t even try to hide it, maybe that’s a good thing? No, it’s not that big of a deal, if Lapis felt something else she'd definitely talk to Peridot about it. A bark brings Lapis back to reality and she realizes that she’s been staring at the back of Peridot’s head. Mentally slapping herself, she walks over to the barking dog. Everyone else follows the noise too.

“What is it pumpkin?” Lapis says as she pets him. He’s barking at a shelf in the corner. Everyone looks around the shelf but no luck.

“Hey Lapis, I think your dog’s busted,” Amethyst says scratching her head.

“No no Amethyst, look deep into the dog’s mind. You can feel the energy here.” Lapis takes Amethyst hands and waves them around the shelf.

“You two are idiots, just look under the shelf.” Peridot butts in, pointing underneath the shelf. So Lapis does as instructed and looks under the shelf to find some dusty quarters. She reaches and grabs them all, getting up and dusting them off.

“You my friend, are a Guinness.” She says pointing to Peridot, but she turns away to fast and doesn’t see the small blush form on her face from the compliment. As she turns, she points to Pumpkin too, stroking his curly hair. “Good boy.”

She pulls the beginning money from her pocket and mixes it with new quarters. Everyone gathers around Lapis’ open palm and stare at it. They have about $5.11 now, rolling in money. “Now to the liquor store!” She shouts. Lapis pockets the money and they all pack up to leave. Amethyst and Pearl in the front with the radio and Lapis, Pumpkin, and Peridot in tow, close enough that their shoulders are touching.

-OoO-

While walking around, Amethyst said something about a junkyard and it being her favorite place to hang. She also said there was a little deli market behind it, so they decided to stop by. Upon entrance, they saw rusted cars, old house appliances, and spare parts. One cut in here and that would be it. One by one they climbed the fence, Pumpkin found a small opening in the fence and followed behind Peridot. Amethyst led them to her little spot, checking if anything was missing. Glancing over at Peridot beside her, she still looked a little sad. Lapis and Peridot had been talking the whole way there, she’d thought that’d take her mind off whatever she was thinking about.

“Peridot, you ok?” Lapis put a hand on her shoulder and looked into her eyes.

“Yeah.” Peridot flashed a fake smile to Lapis, hoping that would stop whatever she was doing. Of course, Lapis didn’t buy it, she was dragging her feet when she walked. The blonde looked tired too, and sad. But if she didn’t want to talk about it then Lapis would push to open up.

“Alright, come on.” She put her slender arm around Peridot’s neck, pulled her into a hug and continued walking.

Amethyst had been saying something about her spot and how it was sacred to her or whatever, but Lapis and Peridot hadn’t really been listening. Pearl, however, was intensely listening, either agreeing about how cool it was or arguing about how dirty everything is. Either way, she was listening to Amethyst, and she cared about everything she pointed out. It was a little different from what she used to always do, but it made her feel better to care. She was also the only one to hear about Eyeball and that they’d have to leave soon. After everyone settled down, they had to pick who would go get the food. Lapis took four quarters out her pocket and passed them out. They all flipped their quarters and called out what they got.

“Tails.” Everyone had gotten tails, Amethyst rambled about that being unlucky but they continued to flip.

“Heads.” Lapis, Pearl, and Amethyst said.

“Tails.” Peridot was the one to go. Obviously, she was mad, but if she’d say something they’d make it worse. Peridot got up and took her knapsack with her and started to leave when Lapis got up.

“Man Peridot always loses.” Amethyst joked, holding up an L to her forehead. Pearl laughed beside her, Lapis chuckled but walked over to Peridot.

“I’m going with Peridot.” She said, looking at the tiny blonde, Peridot looked back.

“You don’t have to,” Peridot whispered.

“Oo, Lapis going with the loser. She does have an L in her name.” Amethyst continued and Pearl was still laughing.

“I want to.” She then turned to Amethyst and flipped her off. “Piss off.” Amethyst returned the gesture, they all knew the two didn’t mean it and it was a joke.

“Pumpkin!” Lapis yelled out for the dog, she honestly didn’t trust those two with him. The dog came from a little hole out of a pile of junk with a bone. Weird, but whatever. Pumpkin dropped it and ran after the two girls walking to the deli.

-OoO-

Amethyst was right it was right behind the junkyard. Lapis thought it would be a walk to get there but nope. This it where Amethyst would go to buy food and eat it in her little spot. Peridot and Lapis walked in looked around. The two split up to find whatever they could eat. Peridot went straight to the sunflower seeds, they were for everyone, but she could joke about Pearl being a bird. Then went to find something they could drink. Hopefully, they would only be out for one night because they would definitely not have enough food. She could hear Amethyst whining about being hungry in the back of her head. Moving over to the drink section she thought about the options. Sodas, or water? Or maybe juice? Some of them already had canteens, but what if they ran out of water? She couldn’t spend any more time on this so she just grabbed two bottled waters and two Coca Cola’s. Walking back to Lapis she saw the mountain of food in her arms and smiled. She even saw Pumpkin trying to help, he had a meat stick in his mouth.

“You know we can’t buy all of that right?” She said pointing to her arms.

“I know, I just couldn’t pick.”

She had chips, cookies, candy, drinks. Basically one of everything in the store in her lean arms. Peridot helped Lapis pick what they actually needed which was a mix of candy, some chips and the meat stick from Pumpkin’s mouth. Lapis had also spotted some marshmallows, grabbed them and threw them at Peridot’s face. They both laughed all the way to the cashier. Lapis and Peridot dumped the items on the counter and waited for the Cashier to do her job. Peridot had been looking at the lady on the other side of the counter, her name tag said Garnet on it. She had a jerry curl like afro, dark skin, she had two tattoos on the insides of her hands, and to top it off she wore sunglasses. She was also curvy and slim at the same time. Was that possible? Peridot had realized she was staring and so did Lapis. She almost didn’t hear the cashier call her name.

“You’re Peridot right?” She had a beautiful London accent.

“Y-yeah.” Peridot stuttered.

“It’s a shame what happened to your sister. She was very talented.” Peridot was annoyed everyone she talked to now only wanted to talk about her sister. What about what she’s feeling or how talented she was? Lapis and Garnet could both see how she felt, but only Lapis moved to comfort her.

“Hey, calm down. I know you’re talented too.” She continued to ring up the items.

Peridot was shocked, she knew exactly what she was thinking, and she didn’t even know Peridot. The only one that came close to doing anything like that was her sister. “Thanks…”

“If you want to be your own person and stop living in Pearl’s shadow, just be yourself, find your voice.”

Maybe she was right. I mean it sounded right and smart. (The accent definitely helps.) Lapis paid for the items and put them in Peridot’s bag. They exited the store and headed back for their friends. While they were walking Peridot kept thinking about what she said. Then she heard Amethyst and Pearl screaming and yelling from the other side of the gate for her and Lapis to run.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I don't even know when the next time I can update again because my birthday it this month. So I decided to cut this chapter in two. 1, because it was too long for my liking...even though I said I'd write more. And 2, because it would be less writing for the next, therefore shorter wait time. Also the ending was rushed, and I feel bad about it.


End file.
